Matthew Berman	Andrew Kotchen

Designer Spotlight

Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen
workshop/apd

What is your definition of good design?
MB: I love this question. Most people think that good design (or good taste) is subjective - that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I think this is absurd and people should stop perpetuating this fallacy. Good design requires creative thought, discipline, and education. A good designer needs to be able to evaluate proportion, scale, light, tone, texture, form, and function intuitively and construct and dissect the relationships between them in order to strike just the right balance. Rules, of course, are always made to be broken, and the best designers throughout history know how to push the limits and manipulate these rules, but you have to know the rules nonetheless. Good design doesn't just "happen" and not everyone is capable of being a designer. This takes time and is a skill that must be practiced in order to hone the craft.

AK: "Good design" in many professions is regarded as an "abstraction," something you "try" to achieve. As someone who has committed his life to design, I believe "good design" is not an "abstract concept" but rather a "way of life." In order to achieve "it," you need to be consumed and engaged by your environment at all times, so that you become educated and aware of how space is/can be defined. That being said, good design, in the end, should "look easy." It should not be overdone and pushed onto you in a way that compromises your personal experience. Good design needs to consider the context, environment, and the human scale.

Which room is your favorite to decorate, or what piece of furniture is your favorite?

MB: I have always been fascinated by transformation - the Murphy bed, the first-class airplane seat, the Swiss Army knife, the mobile home - and the ability to find programmatic overlaps where you might not expect them. New York real estate is very expensive, so every square inch must be used wisely and creatively. We always look for ways to incorporate these ideas into our design approach, often through custom pieces, and increasingly the market is responding with new products that do the same thing.

AK: At this point in my life and career (since I have two small children) I am fascinated by "Family Spaces." Living in Manhattan where space can be very limited, we need to design/decorate rooms so that can perform and satisfy many needs. Creating "hybrid conditions" in the home often results in more dynamic use of space, through the manipulation of typical wall and threshold conditions. Additionally, there are many well designed furnishings on the market that respond to this approach (storage ottomans, cribs that can become desks, etc.)

What are you excited about right now in the world of design?

MB: I like digital fabrication because it can help us bring a level of detail back into a modern language that has been absent for a long time, yet not complicate it with superfluous material. For example, we are laser cutting steel panels for a new stair with a flattened patterning inspired by the carved handrails of the 17th-century staircase by Edmund Pearce on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

AK: Sustainability. While the global climate crisis may be concerning on many levels, it has and will continue to provide opportunities in the future for designers and architects that would not have been possible 10-15 years ago. Through the integration and manipulation of new products and systems, our designs are more responsive to the environment, resulting in "good design."

What was the biggest challenge from your last project? What was your solution?

MB: Every project has its challenges but they invariably come from a breakdown in the triumvirate relationship between designer, owner, and contractor. If one of the parties is deficient in any way, there is trouble. Each party needs to trust one another to do the job they were hired to do and each party has to do their job well. Clients often forget that they have a job to do and should stay involved but not try to micro-manage the process. No matter how many projects one completes, this is unfortunately not an exact science.

AK: The Client. Our profession goes far beyond the definition of designer/architect and we are often faced with managing our clients' personal relationships with their spouses/partners. The interpersonal dynamic created as a result of designing the "home" for clients is fascinating. Often our design process attempts to engage the client on a personal level (sometimes uncomfortably) so that we are better able to understand and work through not only issues of design, but also issues related to how they live. Through this collaborative design "process" and personal connection made with our clients, we are able to work through the most challenging situations on a project.

Where are your favorite places to shop?

MB: I am unabashedly a complete Internet junkie and I spend an embarrassing amount of time looking for new items. My bookmarks, many of which are posted on our website (www.workshopapd.com), are categorized into the standard design divisions.

AK: I am not one that spends hours and days walking the streets in and out of "stuffy" design showrooms, as I do not have the time and quite frankly am annoyed by the process. I enjoy looking through design publications that often do a great job featuring interesting projects and documenting through small articles and advertisements new and interesting products on the market. Fortunately our profession is currently flooded with design publications that provide great exposure to "stuff."

What green products or innovations are you excited about?

MB: All of them. I am excited that designers are developing a conscience and a purpose about what we do that is more than simply the expression of personal style. For me, the question is: "Who will take the lead?" Will it be government, industry, pop culture, or the trade? If it's government or industry, we risk a regulatory system that sets minimum standards, if it's pop culture, we risk the passing of a fad. If the trade takes the lead however, there's an opportunity to integrate many of these ideas into a very high level of design. Some of the best designers and architects are already doing this with much success. We are all in the nascent stages of our collective green education so it's more important to continue to ask questions and challenge practices than try to find absolute answers.

AK: I think it is difficult to select a particular product/innovation as it relates to the "greenscape" of the design world. Workshop's approach is more about the integration of responsible products and how they can contribute to a successful design. We certainly are always looking for products that are made from recycled materials, are formaldehyde-free, contain low VOC's, and most importantly look good and perform to the standards required by the design.

In this pre-war apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Andrew Kotchen says the goal was to bring flexibility to the design in order to accommodate the client's extensive entertaining but not limit his private activities to a small corner of the space.

Most of the storage, appliances, built-in furniture, and fixtures are located in densely packed volumes, leaving the rest of the space completely open and versatile, explains Kotchen.

Depending on the partition configuration of the 10 sliding doors throughout the space, the entertaining space can expand and contract as can the private domain of the homeowner, says Matthew Berman. The guest room becomes a lounge, the guest bathroom becomes a hallway bar, the kitchen becomes a staging area, and so on.

Before materiality comes into play, Berman says, green design starts with efficient design. For workshop/apd, good design - using space and materials intelligently and efficiently - has always been green.

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